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Employee
June 1, 2019
Solved

I want to know tax implications of selling vacant land purchased over 8yrs ago that will make a profit of $30k

  • June 1, 2019
  • 1 reply
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I am married. My annual income is under $40k and my wife's income is $90k. We have one dependent. The land was purchased by me solely during my previous marriage and I married my current wife last year
Best answer by Zbucklyo

It depends.  You will have a capital gain of $30K from the sale.  The rate at which that capital gain will be taxed depends on your filing status.  If you file jointly, you will owe capital gains tax at 15% of the gain.  If you file separately, it is possible that your capital gains rate will be 0% (capital gains rate is 0% for taxable income under $37,650 if you file separately).  However, there are other issues with filing separately that might make it better to file jointly regardless.  For example, if you file jointly, and one of you itemizes deductions, the other one must itemize as well.  The only way to figure out which strategy minimizes your overall tax bill is to create proforma tax returns both ways.

1 reply

ZbucklyoAnswer
Employee
June 1, 2019

It depends.  You will have a capital gain of $30K from the sale.  The rate at which that capital gain will be taxed depends on your filing status.  If you file jointly, you will owe capital gains tax at 15% of the gain.  If you file separately, it is possible that your capital gains rate will be 0% (capital gains rate is 0% for taxable income under $37,650 if you file separately).  However, there are other issues with filing separately that might make it better to file jointly regardless.  For example, if you file jointly, and one of you itemizes deductions, the other one must itemize as well.  The only way to figure out which strategy minimizes your overall tax bill is to create proforma tax returns both ways.

Critter
Employee
June 1, 2019
I highly suggest that you use the downloaded/CD program next year so you can do several what-if scenarios  if you wish to look at multiple ways to file.